The BLT Episode 12: Only Fowls and Horses
Surprise surprise, animals featured heavily in this week’s BLT: from those caught up to no good to those that help maintain law and order. If this week’s episode left you intrigued or wanting to learn more, you can read up on all the stories here.
Do you have some news that’s perfect for the BLT that we’ve missed? Tell us, and find out more about how we work by getting in contact today!
Feline space invaders in Poland
The BLT started with cats reimagined as space invaders, a reference to the news that cats have now been dubbed aliens. The Polish Academy of Sciences listed cats as an “invasive alien species” in their national database due to the damage they cause to birds and wildlife.
Cat-lovers have responded emotionally. Wojiech Solarz, the biologist responsible, defended the decision by citing their harmful impact on biodiversity through their hunting exploits; cats kill up to 140 million birds in Poland each year. But Solarz maintains it’s not personal: “I don’t have anything against cats!”.
Furry Felon busted in B&Q
A squirrel was hunting for a late-night snack of nuts on Saturday night (the kind found in bird feed, not the nuts-and-bolts kind) when it set off the burglar alarm. Police spotted the culprit happily chomping away. Though they tried to catch it, it made a ‘bolt’ for it. Norwich police shared on Twitter that it was too nimble for them and made a clean getaway.
Czech police take it up a gear
Czech police are less likely to have problems with criminals getting away. The newest edition to their car collection is a Ferrari 458 Italia capable of reaching 326k miles per hour. They confiscated it from a criminal; you could say they got it for a steal. Apparently, converting the red supercar with characteristic yellow and blue stripes was cheaper than buying a new Skoda hatchback.
See the vehicle and other supercars turned police cars here.
Cockington’s mare mayor
Patrick, the miniature Shetland pony, has done much for the village of Cockington in Devon. He works as a therapy pony in local hospitals, schools, and recovery groups. A special place for him has been reserved at his local, the Drum Inn, where he regularly enjoys a Guinness.
In their gratitude, the locals felt he deserved some recognition, so they began a campaign to make him mayor. Patrick was appointed on Saturday, and an MP and local councillors were among the well-wishers in attendance.
Though we’re sure he felt honoured at this new appointment, he skipped the speech because he’s a little horse.
Bird-based battalion
Patrick isn’t the only animal with an important day job. Over a thousand Indian Runner Ducks patrol Vergenoegd Löw, the Wine Estate outside Cape Town.
The flightless Indian runner Ducks are speedy and purposefully march to and from work each day. This hardworking army allows the estate to keep its vineyard pesticide-free. They pluck pests off vine buds, including white dune snails, insects, and even mosquito larvae. Their nutrient-rich dung helps the grapevines to flourish too!
Their daily commute is quite a spectacle; You can watch it here.
A use for nature’s creepy robot hands?
On the subject of dead insects, the BLT finished by highlighting some spooky research (arachnophobes, beware). A team of mechanical engineers at Rice University have made some necrobiotic grippers. In other words, they’ve put a spider carcass on a syringe and are using it to pick things up. It turns out that pumping air into the carcass causes the spider to open and close its grip.
If you’re feeling brave, you can see the device in action.
How exactly these grippers might be used is not yet clear, but they may be useful for picking up delicate objects gently. After hearing about a chess-playing robot that broke a 7-year-old's opponent’s finger in Moscow this week, we reckon we might have found a business opportunity for these robot-makers.
We love using visual thinking and visual storytelling to create connected and layered whiteboard animations like this. We’d love to talk to you about how your message could look as a whiteboard animation, contact us today!
A lot can change in 102 years and this BLT delves into some of the odder differences between those innocent days of 1921 and … now.
We all want to feel special. But this week’s news has us wondering if the lines separating humans from animals, and even machines, are increasingly blurring.
From Peru to China to Australia, here are the offbeat news stories that made it into our latest BLT.
As Bob Dylan said, ‘these times, they are a-changing’. This week, we’ve taken a look at the impacts of changes in the publishing climate and the planetary climate.
As Bob Dylan said, ‘these times, they are a-changing’. This week, we’ve taken a look at the impacts of changes in the publishing climate and the planetary climate.
From treasure to tragedy, art to the amoral, we’ve crammed a lot into this week’s BLT. It’s a sandwich Scooby Doo and Shaggy would be proud of.
We are back with more fresh cuts and unlikely combinations that take us from pest control all the way to the potential resurrection of the dodo!
A puzzling week indeed. If our BLT left you bewildered or whet your appetite for more detail about the week's stories, this blog is for you.
Your visual news sandwich is back. This week it includes the Public Order Bill, an increase in Satanism members and energy bills.
Get your wet suit on and join us as we take a dive through through the stories and easter eggs in this weeks BLT!
2023: Back to porridge, back to the commute, back to the gym (if you're so inclined), and back to the BLT.
This week’s BLT reimagines the poster for Apocalypse Now, replacing Colonel Walter Kurtz with a crying dog. To find out how it all connects to the real world, read on.
The news this week has given us plenty to get our teeth into. From cat cameos to magnetic slime, all with unexpected links and crossovers.
Beginning with a moral dilemma, this week’s BLT touches on some ham-related scandals, the future of tattoos, and some of the lesser-known, more bizarre implications of our warming world.
Surprise surprise, animals featured heavily in this week’s BLT: from those caught up to no good to those that help maintain law and order.
Things got heated this week in more than one sense. Let’s unpack some of this week’s news stories and curiosities, plated up and delivered hot off the press in this week’s BLT.
There are a few things certain in this life. The classics include death and taxes, but if this week is anything to go by we can discoveries and consequences.
The BLT often includes animal content, and this episode is no exception, as we weave through the news stories that piqued our interest this week
This week’s episode takes us from old English woods to orbiting satellites as we tune in to the natural world’s response to climate change and create ways to reduce pollution and live more sustainably.
Of course, this week's BLT had to be themed around Glastonbury festival as it kicks off for the first time in 3 years.
Read on for more details about the festival and the other hot topics that made it into the BLT.
It’s been an exciting week for discoveries! Some have brought hope and sadly, some have reminded us of the impact we are having on this marvellous planet we call home. There have been a few losses this week, however.
Our national treasure, Sir David Attenborough has been knighted for the second time! We take a look at some positive climate updates in his honour.
It’s not every week that there is a Platinum Jubilee! We’ve chosen to focus this week’s BLT on Her Majesty, looking into some of the curiosities of the crown.
This week we tackle the virtual and the real, taking you below the sea and back to dry land.
Your weekly sandwich of visual news. This week it features other universes, Elon Music, mutant bacteria, pink pigeons and much much more.
The BLT combines our passion for visual thinking, the week’s news and our creative team to create a delicious visual treat for your feed every week!
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Give us the week’s offbeat news stories, and we’ll sum them up in an image, bringing them into the same universe.